Independent counsel
at the top of the organisation
I am brought in by Chairs, Chief Executives and investors to provide independent challenge, test assumptions, identify emerging risks, and help leadership teams understand how their decisions will be perceived by employees, customers, investors, governments and the wider public.
WHO I AM
Board-level adviser | Military commander | Former foreign editor
Over the past two decades I have advised leaders across the private sector, government, defence and international organisations on some of the most challenging operational, reputational and strategic issues they face. Clients have included multinationals in mining, infrastructure, nuclear, energy, technology, transport, consumer goods and philanthropy, as well as governments, NATO, the United Nations and the African Union.
Before advising, I spent a decade with Sky News as an international editor and correspondent, reporting from Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Alongside my civilian career I am a senior commander in the UK Army Reserve, currently Assistant Commander of the UK Joint Military Command Centre, with operational deployments to Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan and command of an Information Operations task force.
I am a Chartered Manager, a Freeman of the Company of Communicators, and bilingual in French.
Counsel to Boards and leadership teams
Confidential, independent advice to Chairs, Chief Executives and private equity leadership on the decisions that carry reputational weight: acquisitions and integration, restructuring, contested strategy and moments of public scrutiny. I read the room, the stakeholder system and the information environment, and translate ambiguity into clear, credible action.
Stakeholder systems and mediation
Mapping the interests, friction and hidden dependencies across investors, regulators, governments, communities, partners and employees. Where relationships are contested or sensitive, I act as an independent interlocutor, building the trust and the shared narrative that let organisations deliver.
Reputational risk and crisis preparedness
Crisis simulations, executive red teaming and strategic exercises that expose unidentified risks and test decision-making before uncertainty arrives. When a crisis is live, I work alongside the leadership team to hold the narrative, protect credibility and keep the organisation moving.
Leadership under scrutiny
Preparing senior leaders for the engagements that define reputations: investor briefings, regulatory and parliamentary appearances, employee town halls and the media. Drawing on a decade in frontline journalism, I help executives maintain credibility in highly scrutinised environments.
TESTIMONIALS
“She was pivotal to the successful military operation; authoritative, insightful, bright, engaging, thoroughly professional, master of her brief and an exceptional team player. She will make an invaluable contribution anywhere.”
Lt General Sir TYRONE URCH CBE
Standing Joint Commander, British Army
“Lorna is always quick to embrace complex challenges and provide quick and executable solutions. After a session with Lorna, leaders are more confident, composed and ready to engage.”
LAURA DUBOIS
Exercise Planner and TV Producer, Media Simulation Section
Joint Warfare Centre, NATO
